“On March 30, 1976, as thousands of Palestinians inside Israel protested Israeli plans to steal 60,000 dunams of land in the Galilee, six Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured and arrested...

Thirty-nine years later, in the face of the brutal military occupation imposed by Israel, the Palestinian people still remain steadfast in their struggle to defend their inalienable rights to independence, freedom and justice.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is succeeding in completing the Zionist project and pressing ahead with Israel’s systematic policies of settler colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, showing a total disregard for Palestinian human rights and dignity.

Furthermore, Palestinian citizens of Israel are constantly deprived of their social, political and economic rights and treated as second-class citizens. Israel’s policies of racism, hatred, extremism, and violence constitute a deliberate effort to legalize discrimination and xenophobia and superimpose “Greater Israel” on historical Palestine at the expense of all Palestinians.

However, even in light of such grave injustices and flagrant violations of international law, Palestinians everywhere remain undeterred in engaging in non-violent popular action, including political, legal and diplomatic efforts, to preserve their identity, continuity and presence on Palestinian lands. Regardless of wherever Palestinians live, they will always remain an indivisible part of Palestine.

Israel has been exempt from accountability for its violations and deliberate acts of aggression and violence against the Palestinian people for far too long. All members of the international community, including the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States, have the legal and moral responsibility to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people and to serve the cause of peace and justice by adopting bold initiatives and concrete steps to counter Israel’s impunity and war crimes.”

Israeli forces opened fire on dozens of protesters marching on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip near Khan Younis on Sunday.

Witnesses said that Israeli forces opened fired on the protesters as they neared the border, adding that no injuries were reported.

Ma'an reports that the protest was called in opposition to the Israeli-administered blockade of the coastal strip as well as to delays in reconstruction.

Protesters were also commemorating the 39th Palestinian "Land Day."

Adham Abu Salima, spokesman for a local activist group, the National Committee for Breaking the Siege and Reconstruction, told Ma'an the protest had been called to mark "refusal" of the blockade and to stand up for Gazan families whose homes are in ruins.

Large swathes of the Gaza Strip remain in ruin following a 50-day Israeli assault last summer, which killed more than 2,300 Gazans and left 100,000 homeless.

However, reconstruction has been slow due to the restriction on imports the Israeli authorities impose as part of the blockade, which has been in place since 2007.

Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinian civilians near the border since the ceasefire agreement signed Aug. 26, 2014.

In February alone, there were a total of 26 incidents of shootings, incursions into the Strip, and arrests, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

The attacks come despite Israeli promises at the end of the ceasefire to ease restrictions on Palestinian access to the border region near the "security buffer zone."

A number of recent demonstrations in the occupied territories have marked Land Day, commemorating a general strike and marches that took place on Mar. 30, 1976 to protest Israeli land seizures.

Six unarmed Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured by Israeli forces that day.

On the 27th of March 2015, close to 200 protesters from all over the West Bank gathered in Nabi Saleh to protest the occupation in commemoration of Land Day.

The protest was met with extreme violence as the Army and Border Police fired large amounts of tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets as well as several rounds of M16 live ammunition at the protesters.On March 30th 1976 a general strike and marches were arranged all over Palestinian cities within Israel from the Naqab to the Galilee. The actions were a response to the Israeli Government’s expropriation of thousands of dunas of Palestinian land.

During the actions six unarmed Palestinian Israeli citizens were killed, 100 wounded and hundreds more arrested. It was the first time since 1948 that the Palestinians within 1948 Israel organized as a Palestinian national collective and the date is commemorated yearly with a series of protest all over the West Bank.

This year the protests began on Saturday the 28th of March in Nabi Saleh.

Raining tear gas and arresting without provocation

Around 12 pm on Saturday, protesters from all over the West Bank, from Hebron to Kafr Qaddum, gathered in the village of Nabi Saleh. The demonstration was a local protest in commemoration of Land Day and of the two villagers Mustafa Tamimi and Rushdi Tamimi, who were murdered by the Israeli occupation soldiers.

After midday prayer protesters made their way down the main road of the village chanting and singing. On the outskirts of the village nine army and border police jeeps was gathered and as the demonstraters approached the road the about 60 soldiers and police rained tear gas on the unarmed and unoffending protesters. Several people suffered from severe tear gas poisoning as the military pushed them back into the village overpowering and arresting one Palestinian activist. The tear gas clouds covered the street for more than 30 meters and the protest spread into the farmlands surrounding the village.

Military on retreat

As the protest continued in the hills around Nabi Saleh protesters gathered again and threw back a large number of the tear gas canisters still being rained down on them by the army and border police. Resisting the tear gas and throwing the canisters back towards the military themselves the protesters managed to push the soldiers and police back down the hills towards the village gate. Here they took cover behind their jeeps unable to despurse the demonstration.

Rubber coated steel bullets and live M16 ammunition

As the protest continued the soldiers began firing rubber coated steel bullets at the protesters who took cover behind stones and trees as the bullets jumped off the road between them. The steel bullets came repeatedly and several protesters were hit and carried from the scene.

As the protesters ducked from the rubber coated steel bullets the sound of M16’s began to fill the air as soldiers started to target Palestinian protesters, children, internationals and journalists on the Hill with live ammunition. Fifteen M16 bullets ricocheted of the stones on the ground very close to the protesters, fortunately not hitting anyone. However, the protest continued for half an our longer until the military got back in their jeeps and moved back towards the check point at the outskirts of the city.

The Land Day protests will continue all over the West Bank throughout the week.

The Israeli Authorities released, Sunday, the head of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, in Nabi Saleh village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah after holding him for more than 24 hours, when the soldiers used excessive force against nonviolent protesters marking the 39th anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day.

Dozens of Palestinians marched Sunday in front of the ‘Ofer Israeli military prison, demanding the release of Jamil al-Barghouthi, before the soldiers fired concussion grenades and gas bombs on them.

The ‘Ofer prison, and its military court, are built in Palestinian lands belonging to residents of Betunia town, west of Ramallah.

The court initially ordered the release of al-Barghouthi after instating a 5000 New Israeli Shekels fine, in addition to trying to force him to vow to refrain from participating in the protests against the Annexation Wall and settlements, but he refused to sign any agreement.

Al-Barghouthi became the head of the Committee after the army killed the former head, Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu ‘Ein.

Al-Barghouthi is active in popular, nonviolent, resistance activities against the Israeli Annexation Wall and colonies in different parts of occupied Palestine, and was one of many activists who installed the “Jerusalem Gate” protest tent village in Abu Dis town, near occupied Jerusalem.

Hundreds of Palestinians have commemorated the Land Day in borderline areas to the east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip at noon Sunday.

The PIC reporter said the demonstrations, which were called for by the National Committee to Break the Siege, aimed at challenging the soldiers of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) who targeted the demonstrators with shots and tear gas bombs.

Protesters got gathered in five locations on the borderline of the Israeli security fence. They torched tires, raised Palestinian flags, and chanted against the occupation.

The Gazan youth challenged the IOF soldiers by reaching the Israeli separation security fence despite the firing of shots and tear gas bombs by the IOF soldiers stationed at the security fence. Many of the protesters suffered breathing problems and treated in the field, he said.

The PIC reporter quoted a 15-year-old boy as saying: “This is our land. We will not abandon it. The IOF is shooting at us to make us go away and leave our lands, but we will remain and replant them despite the leveling works carried out by Israel”.

Over the past years, the Palestinian lands adjacent to the fence have been exposed to repeated bulldozing, whereas the IOF imposes a buffer zone of a depth of 300-800 meters inside Gaza territory along the security fence.

The Palestinians commemorate the Land Day which marks March 30. It dates back to 1967 when the Israeli authorities confiscated thousands of dunums of Palestinian land and property within areas predominantly inhabited by Palestinians to the north of 1948 occupied Palestine.

As a result, general strikes and marches were launched and quickly turned into confrontations with Israeli policemen and soldiers. Six Palestinians were killed and hundreds got injured or arrested.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday apprehended Jamil al-Barghouti, head of the West Bank committee against the wall and settlement.

The IOF captured activist al-Barghouti as he partook in a peaceful demo commemorating the Land Day and the fifth anniversary of the launch of popular resistance in Ramallah’s town of al-Nabi Saleh.

According to Basem al-Tamimi, a popular resistance leader, the IOF troops brutally attacked the peaceful march in the town in an attempt to disband the rally-goers, moments before they kidnapped al-Barghouti and dragged him to an unidentified destination.

The captive was most probably transferred to the Ramallah-based Palestinian liaison office, the activist further stated.

He said the IOF soldiers targeted the non-violent protesters with randomly-shot spates of rubber bullets and tear gas canisters. 10 Palestinian civilians sustained rubber bullet injuries and others choked on tear gas in the process.

Mayor of Ramallah and al-Bireh, Mrs. Layla Ghannam, meanwhile, managed to join the rally staged in al-Nabi Saleh village after she was detained, along with the members of her accompanying crew, at the main entrance to the village for several hours.

Medical sources have reported that two Palestinians and two international peace activists have been injured, and many suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, after Israeli soldiers assaulted the weekly nonviolent protest against the Israeli Annexation Wall and Settlements, in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

Today’s protest also came in commemoration of the Palestinian Land Day, marked by the Palestinians every year on March 30.

The Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in said the soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades on the protesters who peacefully marched towards the Wall.

The soldiers also chased the nonviolent protesters into the village’s streets and alleys, before detaining a child, identified as Mahmoud Khaled Abu Rahma, 12 years of age. The army took the child out of the village, and released him after the weekly protest was concluded.

The Popular Committee said its coordinator Dr. Rateb Abu Rahma, 50 years of age, was shot by a rubber-coated metal bullet in his back, while Ismael Mohammad Abu Rahma, 18, was shot in the leg.

It added that an international peace activist who was shot by a rubber-coated metal bullet in the leg, was moved to the Palestine medical center, while a 78-year-old international supporter was also shot in the leg.

Scores of Palestinians, Israeli and international peace activists suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation as the soldiers showered them with gas bombs.

The Popular Committee said the protesters marched carrying Palestinian flags, and chanted for national unity and the liberation of Palestine, in addition to calling for ongoing resistance against the Israeli occupation, and the release of all detainees.

Today’s protest also came to mark the 39th anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day of 1976, and called on all Palestinian people in every part of Palestine to unite, and to continue their popular nonviolent resistance against the illegal Israeli occupation and its colonialist policies.

The Palestinian Land Day, (March 30), marks the day when Israel in 1976 illegally confiscated thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands, mainly privately-owned, leading to ongoing protests and general strikes in various areas, from the Galilee to the Negev, extending to every part of occupied Palestine, while the army also shot and killed six Palestinians, in addition to wounding and kidnapping hundreds of residents.

The day became a historic event in every part of occupied Palestine, protesting Israel’s illegal apartheid policies, and crimes, against the Palestinian people, since its establishment in the historic land of Palestine in 1948 after destroying and depopulating hundreds of villages and towns.

The high follow-up committee for Arab citizens in the 1948 occupied lands said it would organize massive marches on March 30 to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the Land Day.

In a press release on Saturday, the committee explained that one march would start from Deir Hanna town, north of occupied Palestine, and the other would move from the Negev in the south.

This came during a meeting held yesterday afternoon at the headquarters of the follow-up committee in Nazareth city and attended by Arab Knesset members and officials from political parties and groups, and other institutions.

For his part, former Arab MK Mohamed Baraka stated that, "The Land Day would come this year as new challenges emerged as a result of the extremist government which the election generated."

Baraka emphasized that the Palestinians in the 1948 occupied lands "must be prepared to face the coming dangers threatening them," with regard to the Jewish nation-state law, their presence in the Negev, and their national and civil rights.

"This election has produced a government that will be more dangerous than its predecessors, which will affect our people, the future of the conflict, and the regional stability," he added.

He also highlighted the importance of the Arab follow-up committee's role in mobilizing the Arab masses to confront a series of potential Israeli political battles.